Collection: Cat James MA

Artist Statement

My work is inspired by different aspects of mixed up memories of my childhood.

An edible theme runs through some of my work, icing sugar canvasses, disembodied legs full of sweets and brightly coloured biscuits – a child’s delight, a treat.
I remember as a child being read stories such as ‘The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and wishing I could have the same fantastic adventures as Alice and Dorothy.

Trying to hold a moment in time, a flashback to the past; nursery rhymes and tales spelt out in sweets.

The silk-screens create a fantasy sequence of a little boy and girl, they are the embodiment of my love of the classic Fairytale character; their bodies disappear and reappear.

In the male and female Torsos the figures are covered with imagery from children’s annuals from the 70’s and 80’s, a lot being from 1978, the year I was born. The other singular female torso is covered with dress pattern cutting, from memories of my mother using these to make my own clothes as a child.

My latest work comes from watching my mother sew as a child and from memories of visits to my grandparent’s house and their old fashioned living room and wallpaper. Sewing directly onto wallpaper and canvas, they are redolent of a childish sense of wonder, creating a fairytale atmosphere out of the simplest of means.